Sasha Hull
Lantern Staff
The current laws in Kansas state that anyone over the age of 21 can carry a firearm concealed from view without a permit. Kansas laws also allow for individuals over the age of 21 to have a concealed carry in public buildings including college campuses without a license. On Saturday, March 26, Kansas House voted in favor of bill 2326, accepting concealed carry permits from other states, including ages younger than 21. This movement will require Kansas to change its own laws, letting 18 to 20-year-olds participate in concealed carry firearm training.
Chief of Police Jason Kenney shed some light on this topic and how it will affect Butler Community College moving forward.
“The 18 year olds would still have to take a concealed carry course whereas someone over 21 doesn’t now in Kansas,” Kenney said. “I think that’s a good point. They should have all the training they can get. The big push on it and part of the thinking behind it is you can be 18 to join the military and carry a gun, but with that being military there’s a lot of training. If they’re trained up it’s fine, as long as they’re trained.”
The passing of this law could allow for licensed 18-year-olds to concealed carry on college campuses including Butler.
“It has the potential to affect [Butler],” Kenney said. “We have a lot of 18-year-olds here. Not too many 21-year-olds here or in the dorms, that would be my biggest concern. We don’t want guns out hanging around so they can potentially get stolen.”
Some in favor of passing this bill would argue that students and campuses overall are safer with a wider range of students able to discreetly carry a firearm in case of any dangerous situation or if needed for self defense.
“I think campuses that don’t have police forces, [the bill] would help,” Kenney said. “We are fortunate here at Butler that we have a full time, certified police force. You’re putting the onus of campus safety on the kids if you don’t have [one], and you have to take care of yourself and that’s not what we want.”
Kenney feels that everyone with a firearm should be well trained and that using one due to a dangerous circumstances is always a last resort.
“I think everybody should have the training and when they changed the law a couple of years ago, taking the training away, wasn’t necessarily a good move,” Kenney said. “Handgun firearms are tools that can take someone’s life or [you] can seriously hurt yourself with. The firearm is the last resort, even for police, it’s our last resort we’re going to go to. We have other tools to use and people just need to know that. It’s a last resort, it’s a dangerous tool.”
The Kansas State Senate referred House Bill (HB) 2326 to the Committee on Federal and State Affairs on Wednesday, April 3. The committee will review and revise the bill and pass it on to the senate.
